It would mean that astronauts could potentially harvest their own food in space, reducing the need to come back down to Earth to resupply.

Image caption
Raw images made the lunar surface appear red; the new images have been calibrated

The Chinese Moon lander was carrying among its cargo soil containing cotton and potato seeds, yeast and fruit fly eggs.

The plants are in a sealed container on board the lander. The crops will try to form a mini biosphere – an artificial, self-sustaining environment.

Will the Moon be contaminated?

By Paul Rincon, Science editor, BBC News website

The lunar mini biosphere experiment on the Chang’e-4 lander is designed to test photosynthesis and respiration – processes in living organisms that result in the production of energy. The whole experiment is contained within an 18cm tall, 3kg canister that was designed by 28 Chinese universities.

The organisms inside have a supply of air, water and nutrients to help them grow. But one of the challenges, say Chinese scientists, is to keep the temperature favourable for growth when conditions on the Moon swing wildly between -173C and 100C or more.

They also have to control the humidity and nutrients. Some have raised the question of whether the experiment risks “contaminating” the Moon with biological material, but scientists generally think this is of little concern. And it’s worth reiterating that there are already containers of human waste on the Moon left behind by the Apollo astronauts.

On Tuesday, Chinese state media said the cotton seeds had now grown buds.

The ruling Communist Party’s official mouthpiece the People’s Daily tweeted an image of the sprouted seed, saying it marked “the completion of humankind’s first biological experiment on the Moon”.

Fred Watson, Australian Astronomical Observatory’s astronomer-at-large, told the BBC the development was “good news”.

“It suggests that there might not be insurmountable problems for astronauts in future trying to grow their own crops on the moon in a controlled environment.”

Image copyrightCLEP

Image caption
Seeds in the Chang’e-4 have begun sprouting after landing on the moon

“I think there’s certainly a great deal of interest in using the Moon as staging post, particularly for flights to Mars, because it’s relatively near the Earth,” Mr Watson said.